Comparison
SideMount vs MacDroid
These two do the same big thing: the phone shows up in Finder as a drive, so any app can use it. They differ in what the phone and the Mac need, in how you pay, and in what the free versions allow.
Pick MacDroid if your Mac runs a macOS older than 26, if you want to connect without USB debugging over MTP, or if you only ever copy from the phone to the Mac, which its free version does.
Pick SideMount if you are on macOS 26 and want the lower price: $19 once, or $1.99 a month, against $19.99 a year or $34.99 once for MacDroid PRO. Its trial copies both ways and asks for no card.
What each one is
MacDroid, from Electronic Team, connects an Android phone to a Mac and shows it in Finder. It has three modes: MTP, which needs only the phone's File transfer setting; ADB, which needs USB debugging; and Wi-Fi, added in version 2.0 in 2024. It runs on macOS 11.5 or later and is sold on its own site and on the Mac App Store.
SideMount is a menu bar app that mounts the phone as a volume in Finder over adb, the protocol of Android's developer tools, which it speaks itself, so nothing else is installed. A phone on Android 11 or later can also mount over Wi-Fi. It is built on FSKit, Apple's framework for file systems made by apps, and needs macOS 26 or later.
Side by side
| MacDroid | SideMount | |
|---|---|---|
| The phone in Finder | Yes | Yes |
| Connection modes | MTP, ADB and Wi-Fi | ADB over USB, and Wi-Fi on Android 11 or later |
| Without USB debugging | Yes, in MTP mode | No, it is needed once |
| macOS | 11.5 or later | 26 or later |
| Free version | Copies from the phone to the Mac only | None; a seven day trial that does everything |
| Price for everything | $19.99 a year, or $34.99 once | $1.99 a month, or $19 once |
| Macs per licence | Up to 5 | Up to 3 |
| Where to buy | Its site or the Mac App Store | sidemount.app, through Stripe |
Where MacDroid is the better choice
- Your Mac is on an older macOS. MacDroid supports macOS 11.5 and later. SideMount needs macOS 26, where Apple's FSKit gained what it relies on.
- You do not want USB debugging on. MacDroid's MTP mode works with the phone's ordinary File transfer setting. SideMount has no MTP mode.
- You only need to pull files off the phone. MacDroid's free version copies from the phone to the Mac. Copying the other way, and editing files on the phone, are in PRO.
- You have more than three Macs. A MacDroid PRO licence covers five.
- You buy through the Mac App Store. MacDroid is there. SideMount is sold from its own site.
Where SideMount is the better choice
- Price. Lifetime is $19, against $34.99 for MacDroid PRO's lifetime licence, and the monthly plan lets you pay $1.99 for the one month you need it.
- A trial that does everything. Seven days, both directions, no card. Then you decide.
- A clean phone. SideMount refuses the ._ and .DS_Store files macOS likes to write, and keeps Finder's tags on the Mac instead.
We have not measured MacDroid's speed, and MacDroid publishes no figures, so this page makes no claim about which is faster. Over a USB 3 cable, SideMount moved a 4.5 GB video at about 156 MB/s to the phone and 181 MB/s from it in our tests.
Trying SideMount after MacDroid
Only one program can hold a phone's adb connection at a time, so quit MacDroid before you plug in. Then download SideMount, turn on its file system extension and follow the setup guide. If USB debugging is already on for MacDroid's ADB mode, there is nothing to switch on: the phone only asks once to allow the Mac again, because SideMount brings its own adb key.
Questions
Does MacDroid have a free version?
Yes. The free version copies files from the phone to the Mac. Copying from the Mac to the phone and editing files on the phone need MacDroid PRO, at $19.99 a year or $34.99 once on its App Store listing.
Can I use SideMount without USB debugging?
No. SideMount reaches the phone through adb, which needs USB debugging turned on once. Android still asks you to allow each Mac, and you can revoke it in Developer options at any time. How to turn it on.
Do MacDroid and SideMount work on the same Mac?
Yes, but not on the same phone at the same moment. A phone's adb connection can be held by one program at a time, so quit one before the other connects.
Why does SideMount need macOS 26?
It is built on FSKit, Apple's supported way for an app to provide a file system, and the kind of volume it mounts arrived in macOS 26. On an older Mac, MacDroid or the free OpenMTP are the options. More about FSKit.
